Chesterfield Borough Council has been awarded £2.693 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The money will be spent over the next three financial years (running until 2024/25) on a range of projects which will benefit local residents and businesses, and to help raise Chesterfield’s profile as a visitor destination.

The council was selected as a lead authority to benefit from the national funding pot, after our ambitious three-year investment plan – setting out a range of initiatives to improve life for local people – was approved by Government in December 2022.

It is being used to fund a range of projects, including:

• improvements to local parks, greens spaces and outdoor sports facilities to provide residents with even better access to quality outdoor facilities across the borough
• help for local businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, contributing towards the council’s goal of creating a net zero borough by 2050
• grants to help community and voluntary groups fund grassroots projects
• funding to support entertainment in Chesterfield town centre and across the borough, including speciality markets
• investment in anti-social behaviour initiatives, which will help to tackle the root causes of nuisance behaviour, in line with the council’s new anti-social behaviour strategy
• continued support to help local businesses start and grow, and to boost opportunities for local people to learn new skills
• investment in tourism and marketing campaigns to support Chesterfield’s appeal as a destination for visitors

Investment priorities

The primary goal of the UKSPF is to build pride of place, via three investment priorities: communities and place; supporting local business; and people and skills – the key themes which underpin the council’s three-year investment plan:

Communities and place

• strengthening our social fabric and fostering a sense of local pride and belonging, through investment in activities that enhance the physical, cultural and social ties and access to local amenities
• building resilient, healthy and safe neighbourhoods, through investment in quality places that people want to live, work, play and learn in

Supporting local business

• creating jobs and boosting community cohesion through investments that build on existing industries and institutions and range from support for starting a business to improvements in local retail and hospitality facilities
• promoting networking and collaboration between businesses and partners to stimulate innovation and growth
• increasing private sector investment in growth-enhancing activities, including adoption of low carbon technologies

People and skills

• boosting core skills and support adults to progress in work, by targeting adults with no or low level qualifications and skills in maths, upskilling the working population, and by encouraging innovative approaches to reducing adult learning barriers
• reducing levels of economic inactivity through investment in bespoke intensive life and employment support tailored to local need
• supporting people furthest from the labour market to overcome barriers to work by providing cohesive, locally tailored support including access to basic skills
• supporting local areas to fund gaps in local skills provision to support people to progress in work and supplement local adults’ skills provision

Working with the local community

Some of these projects will see us working closely with our partners and our communities.

We will share more information about individual projects – and how local people and businesses can benefit – over the coming months. Please check this page or follow the council’s social media channels for updates.

About the UK Shared Prosperity Fund

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit the Government website.